The House Oversight and Reform Committee on Tuesday filed a lawsuit against Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and Attorney General William Barr over their refusal to comply with the panel's subpoenas related to the 2020 census.
"I am filing this enforcement action today because the Trump administration's brazen obstruction of Congress must not stand," said Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., the chairwoman of the Oversight Committee, according to Politico. "President Trump and his aides are not above the law."
The House voted last July to enforce the committee's subpoenas seeking information on the Trump administration's attempt to include a citizenship question in the U.S. census ahead of next year, holding Barr and Ross in contempt of Congress for their refusal to comply.
"The committee is investigating the attempt to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census, both to conduct oversight of the executive branch and to determine whether legislation may be necessary to amend the census process or to provide additional safeguards in light of defendants' conduct," the committee wrote in the complaint.
The panel specifies the need for information on "the Commerce Department's process for soliciting and evaluating input regarding the citizenship question," and its "efforts to affect the accuracy of the enumeration, and improper political influences on the census."
The complaint notes, "This information is critical to the committee's oversight and legislative interests in furthering an accurate enumeration. Without the information, the committee cannot fulfill its constitutional duties to oversee DOJ and the Commerce Department and to remedy through legislation any defects in the administration of the census — tasks that are at the foundation of American democracy."
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